If you have booked a room you just need to inform the receptionist and everything will go smoothly. Here's an example of what you might say:

Hover over any word to show translation

wǒ

我

我

I, me

yù dìng

预订

預訂

to book ahead

le

了

了

(completed action marker)

fáng jiān

房间

房間

room

。

wǒ

我

我

I, me

jiào

叫

叫

to call, to be called

bǎo luó

保罗

保羅

Paul (name)

。

I booked a room. My name is Paul.

Character set

Pinyin

Subj. + 叫 (jiào) + [Name] my name is…

叫 (jiào) means ”to call” or ”to be called”. You can use like this:

她叫李好。[tā jiào lǐhǎo.] – Her name is Lihao.

我爸爸叫汤姆。[wǒ bàba jiào tāngmǔ.] – My father’s name is Tom.

If you don't have a reservation on the other hand, you can ask the 前台接待员 [qián tái jiē dài yuán] for a room like this:

Hover over any word to show translation

qǐng wèn

请问

請問

Excuse me, may I ask...?

yǒu

有

有

to have, there is

kōng

空

空

empty

fáng jiān

房间

房間

room

ma

吗

嗎

(question particle for "yes-no" questions)

？

wǒ

我

我

I, me

xiǎng yào

想要

想要

to want to

yí

一

一

one

ge

个

個

classifier for people or objects in general

dà

大

大

big, large

chuáng

床

床

bed

fáng

房

房

room

。

Excuse me, do you have any vacant rooms? I want a room with a large bed.

Character set

Pinyin

Other room types

单人房 [dān rén fáng] – single room

双人房 [shuāng rén fáng] – double room

三人房 [sān rén fáng] – three bedded room

家庭房 [jiā tíng fáng] – family room

标准房 [biāo zhǔn fáng] – standard room

商务房 [shuāng wù fáng] – business room

Next you better learn what to say when you want to check out, right?

Hover over any word to show translation

1.

wǒ

我

我

I, me

xiǎng

想

想

to wish, to want

míng tiān

明天

明天

tomorrow

tuì fáng

退房

退房

to check out

。

2.

wǒ

我

我

I, me

sān

3

3

yuè

月

月

month

shí bā

18

18

hào

号

號

day of a month

tuì fáng

退房

退房

to check out

。

3.

wǒ

我

我

I, me

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

tuì fáng

退房

退房

to check out

1. I want to check out tomorrow.
2. I want to check out on March 18th.
3. I want to check out.

Character set

Pinyin

When you check into a hotel in China, you should show your passport.

Hover over any word to show translation

zhè

这

這

this, these

shì

是

是

is, are

wǒ

我

我

I, me

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

hù zhào

护照

護照

passport

。

This is my passport.

Character set

Pinyin

However, some hotels cannot accommodate foreigner guests because they do not have the machine for scanning passports, so you must be careful.

Now that the check in is done, you might want 叫醒服务 [jiào xǐng fú wù]（wake-up call service）.

Hover over any word to show translation

qǐng

请

請

please (do sth)

míng tiān

明天

明天

tomorrow

zǎo shang

早上

早上

early morning

liù

6

6

diǎn

点

點

o'clock

jiào xǐng

叫醒

叫醒

to wake sb up

wǒ

我

我

I, me

。

Please wake me up tomorrow morning at 6.

Character set

Pinyin

请 + time + 叫醒我, means “I would like a wake-up call for (time)”.

Finally, let’s see some other words you may come across while staying at a hotel.

停车场 [tíng chē chǎng] – parking lot

餐厅 [cān tīng] – restaurant

前台 [qián tái] – front desk

电梯 [diàn tī] – elevator

行李 [xíng lǐ] – luggage

Ok, now you can go relax in your room! Please enjoy!

This is the accompanying blog post for our newbie lesson "Checking into a Guesthouse".You can read the entire lesson for free using Du Chinese, available for iPhone and Android.Click here for more information.